


The Truths we cling to

by islndgurl777



Series: Star Wars OT Soulmarks [11]
Category: Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Gen, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:42:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23547823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/islndgurl777/pseuds/islndgurl777
Summary: When Yoda confirms Vader’s words, it feels like a punch to the gut. Anakin Skywalker, hero of the Clone Wars, great Jedi Knight, his father, was Darth Vader, dark spectre of the Empire and the man who’d tortured Luke’s soulmates.
Relationships: Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker, Luke Skywalker & Han Solo
Series: Star Wars OT Soulmarks [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/447790
Comments: 6
Kudos: 29





	The Truths we cling to

**Author's Note:**

> Some dialogue borrowed from Return of the Jedi.

The others are preparing the Falcon while Luke takes one last sweep through Ben’s home. It’s been years since he’s been here, but it’s far enough away from anything else that no one’s looted the house yet.

Not that there’s much to loot. The house is very utilitarian, holding basic necessities, but displaying nothing that would define it as belonging to Ben in any obvious way. The lack of any personal touches makes Luke wonder who the man truly was and if he’d ever really known him that well at all. It’s frustrating to know he’s looked up to this man, idolized him and thought of him as a mentor for all these years, and yet he knows almost nothing about him. It’s equally frustrating to know he’d felt this way, and the man had been lying to him from the moment they met.

He’s about to leave when his eyes are drawn to the chest in the corner, the same one Ben had pulled his father’s lightsaber from all those years ago. There’s a pulse from the Force that tells him there’s something he needs in there. When he opens it, there’s nothing but some old blankets on top, but when he digs underneath, he finds what he’s been drawn to. There are two holocrons and what appears to be a sketchbook wrapped in an old brown robe.

Before he can open the sketchbook, Leia’s voice rings through the house. “Luke? We’re ready to go!”

He carefully folds his finds back into the robe and gives one last glance through the chest. This was what he was looking for, so he closes it and carries the bundle back outside. Leia’s waiting for him just outside the door. “Everything okay?”

“I should be asking you that,” he says incredulously.

She rolls her eyes. “I’m fine.” He sends her a look and she amends her statement. “I  _ will _ be fine.”

He nods, the truth of the statement ringing out between them. “I think so too. I feel like something’s about to happen. Something good.” The bundle in his arms seems to pulse with expectant energy.

Leia raises a brow. “Better than us rescuing Han and destroying a Hutt and his posse all in one day?”

Luke snorts. “Well, when you put it that way…”

They smile at each other for a moment before she says, “How long will you be?”

He thinks for a moment, searching the Force for a definitive answer. “I don’t know. Not too long, I don’t think. I just need some answers about Vader, and maybe a little help.”

She nods and lets out a shaky breath. “Are you ever going to tell me what happened with him?”

His heart stutters in his chest. It physically pains him to keep things from her, his soulmate, his best friend. But this… dread that fills him every time he thinks of his father, Anakin Skywalker, as the monster of her frequent nightmares… “I want to, but I need those answers first,” he says, hoping they’re the answers he wants, yet knowing they’re not. “I promise, I’ll tell you someday.”

Her face twists in displeasure, but she nods. “Fine. I’ll hold you to that,” she threatens, and he smiles.

He walks her to the ramp of the Falcon, where Han is waiting, leaning against the wall, still squinting at the twin suns reflecting off the endless desert. “I’ll see you soon,” Luke says, hugging them both one last time before taking off towards his X-wing.

/

There’s plenty of time for him to look over the holocrons as he hurtles toward Dagobah, but he can’t bring himself to open them quite yet. They seem important, but he’s not sure he’s ready for whatever they contain.

The sketchbook is nearly as daunting, but he opens it anyway. It’s filled with coded writing in two different styles of handwriting, and lots of sketches, mostly of people, sometimes of landmarks on what looks to be dozens of different planets. It’s hard to tell more because he has yet to crack the code they are written in, though the first entry is dated toward the beginning of the Clone Wars.

He spends a lot of time studying the sketches of people, wondering who all of them are. Surprisingly, a few of them are of Yoda, though some are less than flattering portraits, almost like caricatures. There are several more of Jedi he does not know, and several men who appear to have very similar features, though the sketches make it obvious they are all different people. The clones. A young Togruta appears frequently, wielding double lightsabers held in a reverse grip. Most frequent of all is an elegant young woman who wears extravagant dresses. Luke’s heart pounds as he looks over her portraits; this woman is important.

Artoo beeps to get his attention. They are approaching Dagobah. He takes one last look at the woman in the sketch, noting the date at the top of the last page, drawn within a month of Empire Day. There’s a sense of foreboding that sweeps through him, though he’s not sure if it’s from the sketchbook, or his own dread about the upcoming conversation. As they approach the planet, Luke tucks the items safely away, to be looked over and dealt with later.

/

When Yoda confirms Vader’s words, it feels like a punch to the gut. Anakin Skywalker, hero of the Clone Wars, great Jedi Knight, his father, was Darth Vader, dark spectre of the Empire and the man who’d tortured Luke’s soulmates.

And he’s meant to face him again and kill him. After Yoda fades into the Force, he steps outside to think.

Luke sighs and says, “I can’t do it, Artoo. I can’t go on alone.”

A second before he speaks, Luke feels Ben’s presence in the Force. “Yoda will always be with you.”

He looks up at the translucent image of his first master in the Force. “Obi-wan! Why didn’t you tell me?” It’s his most immediate concern, after all this time wondering, unable to find the answers he’s been begging for. “You told me Vader betrayed and murdered my father.”

He feels a wave of  _ sadness-longing-regret _ from Ben before he answers, “Your father was seduced by the dark side of the Force. He ceased to be Anakin Skywalker and became Darth Vader.” Luke can feel the utter truth and despair in Ben’s words as the man continues, “When that happened, the good man who was your father was destroyed. So what I told you was true, from a certain point of view.”

Luke scoffs. “A certain point of view?”

Ben sighs and says quietly, “Luke, you’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.” He’s quiet for a moment before he continues, “He was my soulmate.”

Luke sucks in a startled breath. “What?”

“When I first met him, your father didn’t realize it was me. I think he was too preoccupied with your mother.”

“My mother,” Luke says, voice flat, thoughts running at a parsec a second through his mind. The woman in the sketchbook.

“Our third,” Ben says, quiet, but a gentle love radiates from him. A sudden, sharp pain twists through both of them the longer Ben thinks of her. “Your father was a great pilot, but I was amazed how strong the Force was with him. Because of our connection, I took it upon myself to train him as a Jedi. I thought I could instruct him just as well as Yoda. I was wrong. Our connection made it too dangerous, and my decision had terrible consequences for the galaxy.”

Luke shakes his head, still struggling to adjust to this new admission. “There’s still good in him,” he insists.

“Your mother and I also thought he could be turned back to the good side.” His face twists with pain, eyes far away as he remembers. “It couldn’t be done.” He sighs. “He’s more machine now than man, twisted and evil.”

Luke shakes his head. “I can’t do it, Ben.”

“You cannot escape your destiny,” he argues sadly.

“I tried to stop him once, and I couldn’t do it. Now that I know…” Luke shakes his head again. “I can’t kill my own father.”

He can’t be sure, but he thinks he feels a brief flash of relief, followed by shame from Ben in the Force. Finally, Ben says, “Then the Emperor has already won. You were our only hope.”

“Yoda spoke of another,” Luke counters quickly. He’s been mulling that over since his conversation with him.

A frustrated, impotent anger flashes through the Force, though Ben looks calm as ever. “The other he spoke of is your twin sister.”

_ What?! _ “But I have no sister,” he stutters out.

Ben smiles softly. “To protect you both from the Emperor, you were separated and hidden from your father when you were born. The Emperor knew, as I did, if Anakin were to have any offspring, they would be a threat to him. That is the reason why your sister remains safely anonymous.”

It comes to him in a wondrous and breathless moment of clarity. “Leia! Leia is my sister.”

Fear and joy flood the Force between them for a moment. “Your insight serves you well.”

Luke’s heart flutters at the realization--this is why it’s so effortless to communicate with her through their bond. It’s more than just a soulmate connection; they’re  _ twins _ .

Ben frowns as he feels Luke’s giddy joy. “Bury your feelings deep down, Luke. They do you credit, but they could be made to serve the Emperor.” Here, Ben cannot quite smother the raw fear coursing through him. “I was the only one left, and I promised your mother I’d keep you safe. It was decided it would be better to separate the two of you, so the Emperor wouldn’t be drawn to the beacon that is your combined presence in the Force. Bail Organa was a good friend. We knew she’d be safe with him and Breha on Alderaan. I brought you to Owen and Beru because I knew Anakin would never set foot on Tatooine again. I watched over you for twenty years, kept you safe. They know about you now, but you can still keep her safe. Don’t let them find out about her, or they’ll go after her too.”

Luke feels Ben’s fear bleed over into him and nods. “I’d die for her,” he assures him.

“But would you kill for her?” Ben presses, voice shaky.

A bit of anger swells up in him again. “Why are you so sure that’s what it will come down to? What are you not telling me?”

He’s a ghost, but it still sounds like Ben’s breath hitches for a moment. “He nearly killed your mother, and then she died of heartbreak. Even knowing he’d harmed her, I couldn’t kill him, Luke, and now look at what that moment of weakness has meant for the galaxy. He survived to kill billions and terrorize the galaxy. He must be stopped.”

His heart breaks at the raw emotion in Ben’s voice, but he’s more sure than ever about the path he must take. “I’ll stop him,” he finally says softly, conviction ringing through the Force. Ben nods, reassured, and fades into the forest.

_ Stopping doesn’t mean killing _ , Luke thinks to himself as he goes back to ready his X-wing for takeoff.

**Author's Note:**

> And the next one is only halfway done. So...maybe I'll see you next week, maybe it will be another three years, who can say?


End file.
